DALLAS If all you knew of the English quartet Bombay Bicycle Club was their semi-hit song Shuffle, a song so dangerously infectious it’s a wonder the CDC hasn’t been alerted, you’d be forgiven for tossing them in the pile with Foster the People, Passion Pit, and all the other standard bearers for the well-scrubbed brand of indie-pop that’s taken over rock radio.
Yet, unlike so many other bands they might be compared to, BBC don’t just traffic in one style. From the Afro-pop groove of Always Like This (think Vampire Weekend with a shot of testosterone) to the heavy hoedown of Ivy and Gold and the sweetly cascading dynamics of It’s All Right Now, BBC are kind of all over the place.
While that might make it hard to market the three albums and EPs they’ve released since 2007, it made it easy to appreciate the group in their Dallas debut at the Granada Wednesday night. Their 70-minute set before an appreciative audience packed a harder punch that what might be expected from a British pop band these days.
Drummer Suren de Saram and bassist Ed Nash played with power and authority while singer/guitarist Jack Steadman and guitarist Jamie MacColl topped their rhythms with often chiming melodies that pushed the songs to the next level. (They were supplemented by a keyboardist and a female singer.) At times, they were reminiscent of the underrated Local Natives who take a similar global approach.
Near the end of the set, Steadman said he was surprised that so many fans came to see them in Dallas. Maybe now we won’t have to wait another five years to see them again.
Bombay Bicycle Club, Shuffle
Bombay Bicycle Club, Live in Los Angeles
